As roadways and cities become more overcrowded, traffic congestion in cities has led to an increased risk of pedestrians being injured by vehicular traffic. Cities typically have designated specific crosswalk locations for pedestrians to cross safely. Most cities have also implemented regulations that vehicular traffic must yield to pedestrians crossing at designated crosswalk locations. The system in place uses a visual indicator that informs drivers when they must stop, decrease speed and yield before driving across the designated crosswalk. The current system in place relies on both pedestrians and vehicles obeying the regulations before proceeding across a designated crosswalk.
However, many law enforcement agencies do not have the manpower or devices to enforce crosswalk laws. Drivers of motor vehicles often disregard pedestrians in the cross walks. This has led to increase in the number of pedestrians struck by motor vehicles while crossing at cross walks deemed a safe place to cross. Often drivers approach crosswalks at a high rate of speed and fail to slow down or completely stop before proceeding across the cross walk. Lack of the ability to enforce cross walk laws puts pedestrians at an increased risk of injury. Thus, there is a need to be able to identify when a crosswalk is occupied and when a driver fails to stop at a designated crosswalk.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for ways to identify and assess fines to vehicles that do not yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk.